I should say “mobile hotspot-less” because I used the 10GB allotted to me by my carrier for the (fairly priced) fee of $10 per month. Considering I made it three weeks, this is worth it in my opinion. I thought I would just be able to tether my regular 4G LTE to the Chromebook regardless of the plan purchased because since ordering the hotspot plan, I switched from iOS to Android, but no, the speeds have slowed down to 2G :/

Anyway, I am fine being “stranded” on mobile again as I was monile-only for two straight years leading up to the purchase of the Chromebook a couple months back. I will be just fine.

I have a mild headache and just feel overall shitty from bad weather? Waking up too quick? An overly busy morning? Idk.

Firefox on a Chromebook (using Linux Beta). And it works just fine :) I managed to sign in, get LastPass extension up and going, and this is going to be what i use on this device from here on out. I even uninstalled CHrome on the Pixel 3a(!). So, I am glad I am getting back to my PSS (Privacy, Safety, Security) roots, and I am glad that I am using more FOSS stuff on the Pixel and Chromebook. I have yet to install a dedicated #Linux distro on this device, and I am not sure if I am going to do that, afterall. I see no immediate reason to.

As I get older, I notice that I “adapt” more to the way life is, the way I am, and the way society conducts itself. That isn't to say I am growing cynical or jaded, I just get bored more easily. I remember when social media more or less “came on the tech scene” in 2008 or so when there was widespread adoption of the services (Facebook, Twitter, and yes, MySpace) and everything thought it was the coolest thing ever. Now that I use social media (Twitter, Masto) every single day, I notice hwo damn bored I am with these networks. I can basically only spend about 5 minutes a day (total) on Instagram because it just numbs my fucking brain to scroll that much, I don't know why I even go to that service. Facebook I ditched long ago. Many others I never joined to begin with, and never will. It's essentially just Twitter I spend the most time on. And I find myself very bored over there after a period of time, much like I am instantly with every other social platform.

What I am saying is: humans get bored. Humans adapt and they become accustomed to what is around them, and it just isn't interesting at all anymore. I am not here to tell you, the reader, if you happen to be in agreement with me what the solution is to this boredom, but I am saying that it is there.

I think I wrote about this before but it is worth repeating: I no longer have any files/folders/documents/photos on the cloud. No Google Drive, iCloud, pCloud, DropBox, nada. I removed them because I firmly believe that the safest way to use cloud computing is to not use it at all and to keep as much as possible on local storage. Or, as much as needed. The only document I have on the cloud is a document intended for public download/consumption which is an e-book titled “Littered Thoughts” which is hosted on pCloud. This is not a personal document.

I have been going over the paperwork in my life, the files in my walk-in closet, the notebooks on my shelf, and I have been downsizing the amount of files/folders in REAL life as much as I have been in the digital world. It is always liberating to “free” yourself of unnecessary clutter.

I am going to keep at this until all I have is one(1) 128GB flash drive left with documents, and that is it. That includes IRL documents, as well (except my birth certificate + Social Security card).

I bought a phone the other day (it arrived today) that was made by Google. I am not saying this as a brag, I am saying this as someone who just spent a week+ building PSShub.online (which is about replacing Google Services in your life).

So, if I was so anti-Google (which for the most part I still am): then why did I build that Website???

Well, Google Services are bad (for the most part) but some are OK (for me). I still don't use Google Drive, or Gmail, or Search – but I do still use Chrome (for now), YouTube (which I hate very much but it is a monopoly), and I still use Google Photos (for now). I stand by the statement that Google should not be reading everyone's personal e-mails, scanning their documents, and recording their Search(es) for their own ad-based profit. But I also know that Google is better in a lot of ways, too (which I will not go into here).

I can abandon all three services I use by them. I can stop watching YT and download the Vimeo app, I guess (no fun, and a ghost town). I can get Firefox (planning on doing that pretty soon, actually). And I can find a better photos app (which will inevitably happen).

But there still (in my mind) is a lingering contradition in me building such a (very good) Website and me using an Android phone (Pixel 3a to be specific) and the real, main reason is this: I simply cannot afford an iPhone 7 WITH Apple Care at the moment and the phone market has become a duopoly (iOS or Android, nowhere else to go in the smartphone world).

So, I went with a Pixel because it was perfectly priced, perfectly featured, and just great in many ways (for me. Everyone is different).

I out all of my workday possessions (that I care about) in my walk-in closet just now (incl myself) because there is one hell of a storm coming through STL right now. I feel like I already made this blog post, but I don't think that I did.

Anyway, nothing “big” has started yet, in terms of winds. But every weather station in this area says it is going to get insane. I am (kinda) prepared.

As far as all the things, I could easily fit all things I need/want in my life into a tiny backpack and this makes me feel about my life. Truly.

This is the best phone experience I have had since the One+1. I will say that up front. And I never thought I would say that. Initially the phone was shipped to the wrong address but I am p sure that was a mistake on the part of the FedEx guy, and not Google. They should be using USPS, though. Even if it meant waiting longer. I'd rather wait longer than not get a package at all!

But this phone is 100% bae, all around.

Also, a few tornadoes are coming in tonight (allegedly) and I am all stocked up on food like the doomsday prepper than I am (not). 60 mph winds, too (allegedly). Neither of these things are very good things. #STLWX. I blame the weather guy. Bastard.

And Kevin (my caseworker) cancelled on me today and I was overjoyed with that. If his boss was doing her job right, he would have already been removed from my case because I requested that happen, so I am going to have to call her back. I am no rescheduling with (dickhead) Kevin.

My Purplish Pixel 3a arrives in the mail tomorrow and as soon as it does I am going to rip the box open and set it up. Got a Fog-colored knitted case for it, too. Gonna be just the right phone for me, I can tell.

Also, LastPass is making my life easier and more secure by the day. Everytime I remember an old Website that I need to visit every so often – I sync it with LastPass, generate a new PW, save it, and forget it! #2FA is turned on for everything, too, as I mentioned yesterday.

The #STLWX outside was/is fucking beautiful today. Cool as could be without it being “cold” and pretty windy, as well. Now the sky is overcast and we are expected to get a shitload of rain, and that is cool, too. (Actually it is not. We are partially flooded in these parts. We need about a week WITHOUT rain!)

This isn't the second one in a row or anything, but certainly the second one in the month of May. I was pretty friggin' tired earlier today when I was in and out of the city and going to and from anywhere and everywhere. Was a busy day, for sure.

Tomorrow (today, it is 3:41 AM) I do not have jack shit on my agenda. I know that I am supposed to get a shipment confirmation on the Pixel 3a, but I have no idea if that is going to happen or not. I hope it does. I know that I have a little bit of #writing work cut out for me in terms of combining the “Basic Income” and “Newer Money” stories into one, fluent piece of literature, but I am not focusing on that right now. It is going to be a good (long) read when it is all finished and it is going to be really quite nice, I think.

I feel like the night (morning) has already been a productive one in the sense that I used LastPass on everything (after many recommendations) and read a good deal about the Pixel 3a “Titan M Chip” that is in the Pixel lineup of phones. I had plans on buying a Yubikey at one point or another in my future, but I am pretty sure I am going to get the Titan Key from Google, instead. Possibly some more longevity with that product? I don't know.